This is a translation of the chapter Kotzman,
Geschichte
der Juden in der Bukowina
{History of the Jews in the Bukovina}
Edited by: Dr. Hugo Gold,
As told by: S. J. Seidmann, Raanana Israel, Published in Tel Aviv, 1962

The small town of Kotzman was situated to the north of Chernivtsi. In the
Austrian period, it was the seat of the planning section of the district
administration and it had a district court and a state gymnasium
1
where instruction was given in the Ruthenian language. The Ruthenian farmers
from the 13 surrounding villages brought their produce to the market in Kotzman
Out of the population of 6000, approximately 700 (11.6%) were Jews who had
immigrated to Kotzman from nearby areas of Galicia at the beginning of the 19th
century and who dealt mainly with commerce in agricultural products. They also
were occupied as craftsmen and were practically the only representatives of the
intellectual professions. There were Jews in the ranks of the judges and in the
bureaucracy. To name a few, Nathan Seidmann, a clerk in the planning section of
the district administration in Kotzman who in his time as a member of the
executive committee
2
during the years 1921 to 1927 and intermittently as chairman of the Zionist
organization, performed notable service. Before 1914, the Jews and the
Ruthenian population of the town and the surrounding villages got along well.

The Jews of Kotzman had their own community. In 1914, Anschel Dauber was the
leader and his deputy was Aron Weintraub. The members of the community council
were Salomon Merdlinger, Samuel Fritz, Jakob Beer-Gruen, Chaim Schorr, Hersch
Kreisberger, Leibisch Rosenblatt, Samuel Oberwaeger, Hermann Schulmann, Markus
Stier, Abraham Schorr, Moses Tannenbaum, Alter Tennenblatt and Hersch Zimmer.
The rabbi was Samuel Schaechter, followed by David Fraenkel-Hager. The rabbi's
deputy was Berl Teitelbaum. The Secretary was Josef H. Herzan, Jankel Seidner
was director of the Endowment for the Poor and Leibisch Rosenblatt directed the
Organization for the Support of the Sick. The community had a synagogue and a
cemetery. It also provided for the religious needs of the minyan organizations
3
in Nepolokautz, Luzan and Oroszeny. There were also two smaller prayer houses
in Kotzman.

There was a Talmud Torah school in the town for whose growth, the Seidmann
family must be given particular credit. Wolf Meiselmann was an outstanding
teacher at this school. Also, there was a Zionist Culture organization under
the leadership of Dr. J. Sperber and later Dr. Leo Auerbach stood at the helm
of this organization.

During the period of Romanian rule, no great changes took place. The Romanian
Chauvinists viewed both the Ruthenes and the Jews as enemies of the state whose
suppression was one of the goals of the state and the Jews profited from the
fact that they were not the only ones being systematically persecuted.

During the years of persecution the Ruthenian (Ukrainian) leadership became
nationalistic rabble rousers. They joined forces with the Nazi hoards and the
Romanian Soldateska
4
Jews were robbed, tormented and murdered. In the Summer of 1941 after the
Russian troops withdrew, the following Jews were shot at the Luzanerberg: Rabbi
Uscher Rubin, president Baruch Auerbach, the Schwarzkopf brothers, the Berl
Brothers, Isiu Hecht, Hersch Spierer, two sons of Simon Schorr, Hersch Gaensler
and Simon Rottenberg. These victims were on a list that the Ukrainian lawyer
Dimitrie Hrehoriak (now in Cluj) compiled and handed to the Nazis.

Among those deported to Transnistrien, among many others were Jakob Nathan
Seidmann, his brothers Abraham Hersch and Moses Seidmann, his sister Ida, Josef
Herzan, the mailman Meier Schulmann who at the time of the deportation was 104
years old and who perished with three sons and a daughter, Chaim Gartner from
the village of Suchowershow with his family. The victims Jakob Baer Schorr,
Moses Chaim Schiffer and Leib Nagler who together with their families lost
their lives were also from this village.

1) The gymnasium is a secondary school that prepares students for the
university. Students attend for 9 years and receive a degree called the
“abiture.”

2) Under Austrian rule, any community with a considerable number of Jews had to
have a rigidly defined form of self government whose officers were elected by
the community. The basic term for the Jewish community and government is
“Kultusgemeinde” which I simply translate as “community.” There was a
Kultuspraesident which I translate as president, two committees, the Kultusrat
which I define as “community council” and the Kultusvorstand which I translate
as executive committee. There was also a vice president, a secretary and
several other positions. Jews in small villages surrounding a town with a
Kultusgemeinde would belong to the Kultusgemeinde of the larger town.

3) Towns which were to small to have their own synagogue or prayer house had a
minyan organization. A minyan is the minimum quorum (generally, 10 men)
necessary for saying important prayers.

4) Soldateska is a derogatory term for soldier.

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